It was almost ten months since the slime incident, and Izuku was about ready to die. He was waiting outside the gates of U.A. for Kacchan to arrive, and he wasn't sure how much more his frazzled nerves could take.
He and Kacchan had trained hard together in preparation for this day, and it showed. Not only had Izuku gained some impressive muscle mass and stamina, but Kacchan also made sure to give him a few lessons in the blonde's crude (but effective) version of hand-to-hand combat. Because Izuku was very limited on how freely he could use his quirk without looking suspicious, it was important that he had a way to defend himself without it. Still, despite all the hard training he had gone through in preparation for this day, it did little to calm him down.
Finally, he noticed a familiar head of blonde, spiky hair in the distance. It was easy to spot, what with how the crowd of people seemed to both consciously (and subconsciously) avoid the angry looking teen with a permanent scowl on his face, leaving a bald spot in the crowd where Kacchan was walking. But despite the boy's sneering, Izuku knew his friend well enough to tell Kacchan wasn't in a particularly bad mood today, 'grumpy' just happened to be his default expression.
"Hey, shitnerd," he met Izuku with his usual greeting, but what wasn't usual was the brown package he very suddenly, and very aggressively, showed into Izuku's unsuspecting hands. He almost dropped it in surprise and fumbled for a moment to steady his grip.
"Huh?" he questioned intelligently once he had a firm hold on the surprisingly heavy box.
"Open it," Kacchan ordered with a growl, before he began shoving them both towards the school's entrance, wanting to catch some good seats before it was completely packed.
"Did you get me a present?" Izuku asked in disbelief. He began prying the box open carefully, slightly nervous that this might be a prank or something of similar caliber. Not that Kacchan was one to play pranks, but he usually didn't give out gifts either.
After some more shoving and Izuku's careful dissection of the suspicious present, Kacchan finally seemed to lose his patience. "Fucking hell Deku, don't look at it like it's gonna explode any fucking second! Just fucking open it already, shitface!"
Not wanting to test the agressie blonde's patience any further, Izuku finally ripped the box open. Inside was a pair of thick red leather gloves. No, not just any gloves, he quickly noted as he experimentally took one out the box and held it in one hand, box in the other. It was too heavy for just leather. They were weighted.
He stared at them with wide, green eyes. "Are these for me?" When did Kacchan even buy them?
"Why the fuck else would I give them to you, dumbass? You think I can wear gloves with my quirk? Look, they're even red to match your stupid fucking shoes!"
Izuku just stared in silence for a moment, but he could feel a smile slowly creeping up his face. "That's really thoughtful, Kacchan!"
"Whatever," the blonde grumbled in response, and if Izuku didn't know better, he'd say the boy sounded slightly embarrassed or flustered. "Your weakass needs as much fucking help as it can get. Now wipe that stupid smile of your stupid face and let's go, before all the damn seats are taken."
Izuku did his best, he really did. But try as he might, he just couldn't keep the grin off his face, much to Kacchan's displeasure. He muttered something about "shitty nerd", but Izuku couldn't find it in himself to be offended. He'd long since gotten used to the blonde's abrasive language and colorful insults anyways.
Even when he tripped after a particular hard push from his friend on their way into the school building and almost fell flat on his nose, and would have too if not for the help of a very nice girl with a gravity quirk, he kept smiling.
"Those gloves weren't fucking cheap, so you better ace this test, or else I'm going to murder your damn ass," Kacchan said in a hushed whisper as they took their seats in the auditorium, somewhere around the middle.
Izuku kept smiling.
Call it a lucky coincidence, call it fate. It was a good thing Kacchan bought him the weighted gloves, because they soon found out that they would be battling robots for the entrance exam, as explained by the very enthusiastic pro hero Present Mic, (granted, the pro hero was enthusiastic about everything he did) who was part of the teaching staff at U.A.
The hero explained that there would be three different types of robots to fight, and each robot was designated a different point value. This practical exam was designed to test their ability to dispatch villains, as such the robots had to either be destroyed or immobilized, and Izuku was infinitely glad he wouldn't have to punch the machines with his bare fists. Aside from that, there was also the robot worth no points at all, an obstacle, made to avoid rather than to destroy. A part of him disliked the idea of running away—they were supposed to be fighting villains, what if anyone got hurt because he was too afraid to fight back? Of course, this was just an exercise and not an actual villain attack, but still…
He also disliked the fact that he and Kacchan wouldn't take the test in the same location, even if he understood why. The judges wanted to evaluate the participant's individual ability, so it made sense to separate people from the same school to prevent them from working together during the exam. Not that Kacchan would have helped Izuku either way, but still. Speaking of Kacchan...
"Remember, they have fucking cameras all over the damn place. If you're gonna use your quirk, you best fucking rewind time on yourself too," the blonde informed Izuku, not for the first time. "If the cameras see you teleporting all around the damn place, people are gonna ask questions. Your quirk is foresight, remember?"
"I know, Kacchan," Izuku sighed. While he appreciated his friends concern, he was used to hiding his quirk. He had been for most of his life, after all.
"You better," the explosive teen grumbled. "If you fuck this up for us, I swear I'm going to kill you, you shithead."
Izuku just smiled at that. Even though Kacchan may seem mean, and it wouldn't be the first time someone wondered why Izuku even wanted to spend time with the blonde in the first place, the insults and threats didn't have the same bite as it used to, back when Izuku was just "a nerdy loser with a shitty quirk", as his friend would have put it. Though Izuku was sure he was the only one who noticed the difference; his mother still looked worried sometimes when he asked if he could spend time with Kacchan, but he did his best to assure her that the other boy didn't bully or beat him up anymore like he used to.
Of course, it was kinda hard to convince her when he came home covered in scrapes, bruises and burn marks after another harsh training session with his friend, but her worries were somewhat appeased once he managed to convince Kacchan to let his mother come along to watch one of their sparring matches. She still seemed uneasy, disliking the thought of her son getting himself beat up for training, but she understood that it was necessary for Izuku to make it as a hero and achieve his dream. Not that she liked the thought of her son as a hero very much either considering how dangerous the profession was, but she did what she could to support him.
And it was a good thing he and Kacchan had been training more than just their combat skills for this day. It wasn't much, but Izuku was now able to rewind time on himself three times without passing out! Four, if he was lucky, but the headache that gave him could still be felt hours after he'd already woken up. Those had been some pretty awkward training sessions, with Kacchan having to catch and watch over Izuku's unconscious body while they waited for him to wake up, but the result was worth it.
"Good luck, Kacchan," Izuku said, letting a small smile play over his lips as he eyed the blonde and pulled on his brand new gloves. The weight would take a while to get used to—they clearly weren't designed to be worn for extended periods of time. "Meet you after the exam?"
"I don't need luck, shitstain," Kacchan scoffed. "Let's go get burgers after this. I gotta fucking celebrate finally getting into U.A."
Ah, there's the confidence Izuku admires so much. He just wished he could be half as confident as that Kacchan is.
Good luck, me.
Ochako liked to believe she was doing pretty well in her robot extermination. She had managed to destroy a good amount of them with her quirk by floating them up into the air before dropping them and letting gravity do the rest of the job; she only hoped the points she gathered would be enough for her to pass. Time would be running out soon, so she should—
Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden loud rumbling. Turning her head to look behind her, she watched in both terror and awe as a giant, hulking monster of a robot with a big, fat '0' painted on it fast approached her location.
People around her were yelling and running away in a frenzied panic at the sight, but Ochako found herself rooted to the spot, frozen in shock and fear. She tried her hardest to will her body to just move until her legs were shaking from effort, but no matter how hard she tried, no matter how loud her mind screamed at her to please just move, she couldn't.
I'm going to die, was the thought that kept running through her head, only growing louder the closer the machine of certain death got, along with the fear that crept up her spine, icy cold. But that thought was ridiculous. This was just a test, right? They wouldn't let anyone actually die, right?
The girl watched as the deadly looking robot collided with the buildings around it, sending rubble flying in every direction as the architecture crumbled and collapsed under the force. If any of those heavy slabs of stone were to fall on any of the participants, then surely they would…
She could move again. She could move! Without a second thought she turned from the robot and ran, ran as fast as her legs could carry her, because she could move! She could—
She let out a scream of pain as something impossibly heavy landed on her back, and from the loud crack and harsh stabs of intense pain, she was positive she must have broken something.
Dazed and confused, she lay on the ground unmoving. What… what happened?
Scanning her surroundings and taking in all the rubble around her, it didn't take a genius to conclude that some of that must have fallen on top of her. It was the scenario she feared just seconds ago.
Quick… my quirk! she thought. She made a pitiful attempt to turn around so that her hands could reach the slabs of concrete laying on top of her, but quickly stopped and let out a sharp hiss of pain at the movement and cringed as she heard her broken bones grind against each other. Or was that just some loose rocks?
She tried again, having little choice in the matter, but the pain was just too much. The zero point robot was still approaching her, the rumbling now having reached a deafening roar. Any second now, any second at it would be on top of her. Ochako's hero career would end before it had even began, only leaving a bloody smear on the pavement to remember her by.
Someone, please…
Bleary eyed, she tried to look for someone, anyone who might help her. Tear were prickling the corner of her eyes through a mixture of fear, pain and dust, when suddenly they locked onto a shadow of movement in the distance, barely visible through the large clouds of dust that now covered the exam grounds.
"Please…" she croaked out, as loud as she could. When the dust cleared, it was to large green eyes, opened wide in horror as they stared at her trapped form. It was a boy, with curly dark hair and pale skin. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but Ochako was faster.
"Plea—" she cut her own plea off with a violent fit of coughing, but after a deep, ragged breath she tried again, as loud as she could possibly manage. "Please—!"
Ochako liked to believe she was doing pretty well in her robot extermination. She had managed to destroy a good amount of them with her quirk by floating them up into the air before dropping them and letting gravity do the rest of the job; she only hoped the points she gathered would be enough for her to pass. Time would be running out soon, so she should—
Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden loud rumbling. Turning her head to look behind her, she watched in both terror and awe as a giant, hulking monster of a robot with a big, fat '0' painted on it fast approached her location.
People around her were yelling and running away in a frenzied panic at the sight, but Ochako found herself rooted to the spot, frozen in shock and fear. She tried her hardest to will her body to just move until her legs were shaking from effort, but no matter how hard she tried, no matter how loud her mind screamed at her to please just move, she couldn't.
I'm going to die, was the thought that kept running through her head, only growing louder the closer the machine of certain death got, along with the fear that crept up her spine, icy cold. But that thought was ridiculous. This was just a test, right? They wouldn't let anyone actually die, right?
The girl watched as the deadly looking robot collided with the buildings around it, sending rubble flying in every direction as the architecture crumbled and collapsed under the force. If any of those heavy slabs of stone were to fall on any of the participants, then surely they would…
She could move again. She could move! Without a second thought she turned from the robot and ran, ran as fast as her legs could carry her, because she could move! She could—
She yelped in surprise when she clumsily fell forward. What—
Her thoughts were interrupted as she turned and saw, to her horror, a boy trapped beneath heavy pieces of rubble. He craned his neck to look at her, green curls framing his round freckled face and a smile so big and bright that Ochako almost missed the blood slowly dripping out of his nose.
"Just in time…" he whispered, and Ochako was slightly impressed with herself that she managed to catch it what with all the commotion still going on around them. The boy let out a huff of laughter despite his perilous situation, his expression a mix of pain and relief.
He pushed me out of the way, the girl realized. Her heart clenched in admiration and gratitude for the stranger, but also with guilt and worry. A part of her couldn't help but think the boy looked oddly familiar, but she pushed that thought to the back of her mind. There were more important things at stake at the moment, she could worry about whether the boy really were as much of a stranger as she originally thought later. The zero point robot was still approaching after all, and much too quick for Ochako's liking.
"D-don't worry! I'll help you!" she tried to reassure him as she readied to use her quirk on the heavy pieces of concrete trapping the boy. He just shook his head at her.
"No," he tried. "Just run! You'll—"
Ochako refused to listen. She couldn't just leave him here, especially not after he just risked his own life to save hers! She was going to be a hero; what kind of hero would do such a thing?
A terrible one, her mind provided, determination coursing through her veins as she began working on freeing the boy, bit by bit, piece by piece. She began with the heaviest and most unstable looking pieces, tapping them with her fingers and causing them to lose any gravitational force, before pushing them and let them harmlessly float away. She worked as fast as she could, but was careful as to not cause the pile of rubble to topple over and make the situation even worse. "I won't run," she cut off the boy's words that was still pleading for her to run. "Someone who just runs away can't possibly be a hero."
That caused the boy to still. He hesitantly closed his mouth, saying no more. The deadly machine was still closing in on them. Any second now and it would be upon them. Adrenaline was coursing through the gravity girl's veins, but she refused to leave the boy to his fate. Just a little more—
"TIMES UP!"
The big deadly robot that just seconds ago were out for the teens' blood slowed to a stop, and both Ochako and the boy breathed out a sigh of relief. The stranger (or not stranger?) had large tears gathering in the corner of his big green eyes, and Ochako doubted she was much better. She was also feeling incredibly nauseous, no doubt a mix between overworking her quirk and from the intense fear and worry that gnawed in her gut just a few moments ago.
At least the boy's bloody nose made her feel somewhat less self-conscious when she threw up beside him. She wasn't sure if it was injured or a side effect of him using his quirk, whatever it was, just like her throwing up was.
She finished moving the last pieces of rubble to free the boy, despite her stomach protests.
"Are you alright?" she asked with a wobbly smile as she pulled him to his feet. He stumbled slightly, so she offered her frame for him to lean on, and prayed that she herself wouldn't fall over in the process. That would be embarrassing. And painful.
"Yeah, I think… I think I'm fine," he reassured, voice still shaky from fear and adrenaline. "My whole body hurts, but… I don't think anything is broken. I might have sprained something, though."
"What about your nose?" Ochako inquired. The bleeding looked like it had stopped, so that was a good sign at least.
"Don't worry about it!" the green haired boy smiled at her. "It just happens sometimes… because of my quirk."
Ah, so she was right. She nodded in understanding.
"Excuse me," a voice suddenly called out to the two teens. They turned their heads to see a small woman who—despite her age—seemed to exude a surprising amount of energy.
"R-Recovery Girl!" the boy leaning on Ochako exclaimed, his face lighting up in surprise and excitement.
Girl? Ochako thought, taking in the sight of the old woman. With small, but quick steps she walked up to them.
"Do you have any injuries?" she asked as she began to poke and prod them. Ochako shook her head in response.
"No, he saved me from any serious injury," she admitted, the person in question blushing deeply at her words. "I just feel a bit nauseous."
As if on cue, her stomach turned and she had to throw up again. She just narrowly avoided getting puke all over the old nurse examining them both. "Sorry," she choked out, looking apologetic.
Recovery Girl nodded at her sympathetically. "It's alright dear. Here, eat this. It should make you feel better."
She handed Ochako a pill—candy?—and she popped it into her mouth, grimacing slightly. It would have tasted better if she didn't have vomit in her mouth still. But it did help, as a sudden rush of energy coursed through her body, and holding up the boy still leaning on her instantly became much easier.
"And you?" the old woman asked, now focusing on the boy with the big, green eyes.
"A-ah, just a light headache and some cuts and bruises… and I might have sprained something," he informed sheepishly. "Don't worry about my nose, it already stopped bleeding."
Recovery Girl nodded, right before she walked up to him and planted a quick kiss on the boy. Ochako stared, taken aback by the action, but the next moment the green haired teen was standing on his own without her support. They both stared in awe as the small cuts and bruises covering his body slowly faded away until they were gone completely.
"Better?" the old heroine asked, offering a piece of candy to the boy too, the same kind Ochako ate just a few second ago. He accepted it with a short "thank you" , before popping it into his mouth and nodded in response to the woman's question.
"Y-yeah! It's amazing, it's like all the pain disappeared. Just as expected of Recovery Girl!" he beamed at them both. It was the kind of smile that was almost hard to look at, like staring directly at the sun. "Ahaha… that was really scary though. I guess I'm lucky I didn't break anything, huh?"
Recovery Girl gave him a stern look. "Yes, you are. I cannot admonish you for protecting this girl, but try not to make self-sacrifice a habit of yours. You look like the kind of boy who would."
The boy—Ochako should really ask for his name, he did save her after all—radiant smile subdued to a meeker, sheepish one at the heroines words. "R-right…"
"Good," Recovery Girl nodded. "Now, chop chop. The practical exams may be over, but you still have the written one after this. After that you should go home and relax, your bodies have worked enough for one day."
After that she shooed them away so that she could focus on the other injured students around them. Together, they began walking back to leave the testing grounds.
Ochako was the first one to break the silence.
"That was amazing!" she exclaimed excitedly, before she caught herself. More subdued this time, she asked, "Ah, I forgot to ask! What's your name? I'm Uraraka! Uraraka Ochako."
"M-Midoriya Izuku," the boy, now Midoriya, answered, looking slightly startled. She smiled brightly at the boy in turn.
"You really saved me back there. What were you even doing so close to the robot? Everyone else was running away, I thought I was the only one left!"
"O-oh," Midoriya stuttered. "Um, well I… my quirk is foresight, so I just kinda… saw that you needed help?"
"Foresight?" she asked, eyes wide. "That's really cool! My quirk is Zero Gravity. I guess you saw it in action first hand…"
"Ah, yes! It's an amazing quirk! Zero Gravity, I mean. Um, my foresight isn't really that good. But Zero Gravity sound really useful! You'd make a great rescue hero!"
"Well, now I have experience saving people trapped beneath rubble, so I'm off to a good start," she joked. It was nice being able to relax after their near death experience, even if the adrenaline still pumping through her blood made it somewhat of a challenge. "I think you'd make a good rescue hero too, with your foresight."
"Yeah… maybe," Midoriya said wistfully. An odd look passing over his face for a second, before it was gone.
They had exited the exam grounds when a loud voice suddenly called out to them. Or more specifically, to Midoriya. "OI, SHITNERD!"
Ochako jerked her head toward it, a frown marring her face at the rude name calling. She noticed a somewhat familiar head of shaggy blonde hair approaching them. Wait, familiar?
It suddenly came back to her. Why she felt like she'd seen the green haired boy before somewhere, along with his blonde companion. Midoriya was the boy she stopped from falling before the practical exam took place. In all the commotion she had forgotten their little encounter—almost getting crushed to death by a giant robot does that to a person—but now that she could finally relax and think, she knew why those green eyes and freckles looked so familiar.
She remembered the blonde too. He had been walking beside Midoriya when they first arrived at U.A., and was also the reason the boy almost smashed his head face first in the asphalt in to begin with.
She grimaced at the memory. From the little she'd seen of the blonde, from the glares he threw at anyone that got too close to his crude language, he didn't exactly strike her as someone very friendly, nor nice for that matter. She had to wonder about the relationship between the angry boy and the shy, green haired one beside her. They clearly knew each other. Was he Midoriya's bully?
"Kacchan!" Midoriya called out, face lighting up in excitement. Odd. Alright, so maybe he wasn't a bully, but it was hard to imagine that this 'Kacchan' was actually a friend of Midoriya's. They personalities didn't exactly seem… compatible.
"Who the hell is this bitch?" the blonde stopped in front of them, glaring at Ochako. She bristled at the insult and defiantly glared back, opening her mouth with some very choice words at the tip of her tongue—
"Kacchan! That isn't very nice!" Midoriya scolded with a heavy frown on his face. "This is Uraraka-san. She stopped me from tripping before the exam, remember?"
"Right. Her." The boy—Kacchan?—didn't look very impressed. He was still glaring at her. Or maybe that was just his default expression? "Still didn't answer my fucking question."
The downturned corners of Midoriya's mouth relaxed into a soft smile. "She saved me," he said simply. Ochako's eyes widened at the boy's sincerity and a deep, scarlet blush overtook her face.
"No no no! You saved me," she corrected and attempted to wrestle her fierce blush into control with pure willpower. It didn't go very well, and Ochako's denials resulted in a small argument between her and Midoriya of who exactly saved whom, until Kacchan told them to "shut the fuck up".
Midoriya shut his mouth quickly. Ochako quietened as well, but it didn't stop her from sending her deadliest glare at the boy. It went ignored.
"I don't give a fuck who saved whom," he said with a very clearly annoyed expression on his face. "What I want to fucking know is—Deku, did you pass?"
Deku? Ochako frowned at the odd nickname.
"U-um, well…" Midoriya began. "Ah, why don't I tell you when we eat?" he suggested with a big, bright smile. "There's so much that happened! I have to tell you all about it!"
"Whatever," Kacchan scoffed. He cast a sour glance at Ochako one more time. "Say goodbye to your girlfriend and let's fucking go."
Midoriya blushed deeply in embarrassment at Kacchan's comment and began spluttering. "S-she's not my girlfriend, Kacchan! J-just a nice girl that helped me. I barely even know her!"
Kacchan face morphed into a very odd looking expression at the other boy's reaction. It almost looked like he was fighting down a smirk. Ochako's brows furrowed deeper. Was he teasing Midoriya? Perhaps they got along better than she originally thought.
The blonde was abrasive for sure, but Midoriya didn't seem bothered by it. Perhaps Ochako shouldn't be as quick as she had to judge people. Still, she had her doubts that she would be able to get along with the rude boy. But for Midoriya's sake—whom she'd barely known for more than a few hours, yet found herself surprisingly fond of—she would give this Kacchan a chance. If he really was Midoriya's friend, there must be a good reason for it, right?
But Ochako couldn't help a gnawing suspicion that perhaps the bright eyed boy with his warm smiles might just be too kind and forgiving for his own good. She dearly hoped she was wrong.
Kacchan was sipping on his cola through a straw, his mug of soda in one hand and his bacon cheeseburger in the other. "So? What the fuck were you and that round face chick going on about earlier?"
Izuku perked up, eyes sparkling in excitement. He chewed and swallowed his food quickly so that he could speak, choking slightly in his haste.
"Chew your fucking food, dumbass," Katsuki said and kicked Izuku's legs under the table in annoyance. Izuku gave an apologetic smile between his coughs in response.
"Sorry," he said once his airways were sufficiently cleared. "It's just—things happened so fast back there and it was really scary, but—but I did it! Kacchan, I did it! I used my quirk to save someone!" the boy finished happily, his big trademark smile lighting up his face as he recalled the events of the practicals.
"You're becoming fucking dement. You used your quirk to fight that slime villain before, remember?" the blonde responded and took a big bite out of his food.
"Huh?" Izuku blinked at him, intelligently.
"'Huh?' The hell you mean, 'huh'? Did you seriously fucking forget? Or is meeting All Might all you can fucking remember, you overly obsessed shitnerd?"
"Hey!" Izuku frowned. He wasn't that obsessed, was he? Sure, he owned a few All Might figurines, posters, comics, underwear… but didn't everyone? "Of course I remember, it's just… I was surprised. I didn't think Kacchan would bring that up. Besides, I'm sure you could have handled that villain without me!"
Kacchan made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a groan and kicked Izuku under the table again. "Don't get your fucking panties in a twist over it, Deku," the blonde said, giving him an utterly unimpressed look. Then his eyes narrowed. "You used your quirk. Teleport or foresight?"
"Foresight," the green haired teen answered, not missing a beat. "I didn't forget."
Kacchan nodded. "Good."
After that, Izuku proceeded to tell his blonde friend in detail about how he at first struggled to gain any points as people kept stealing them from right under his nose (he ignored Kacchan's quip that he "should have just punched them, too"). Between that and the fact that even with his gloves, destroying a robot with only some well placed punches was no easy task; he had only incapacitated a handful of the pretend villains before the zero point one showed up. After that he struggled to save the round faced girl, Uraraka Ochako, from getting trapped beneath a heavy pile of rubble caused by the machine's rampage.
Katsiki scoffed as Izuku retold the story of how he, in panic, pushed the girl out of harm's way and ended up getting trapped himself. He thought he heard the blonde mutter something about "stupid Deku", but the blonde let him continue recounting the tale without further interruptions.
Once he finished, Kacchan asked the question Izuku had nervously been hoping to avoid. "And? Did you pass?"
"Um," he began anxiously and eloquently, already off to a great start. "W-well, I did get some points, but um… I'm not sure if it was enough." He gave his short-tempered friend a wobbly smile. Kacchan just glared.
"You better, or I swear to god I'll make you wish you never wanted to be a hero in the first fucking place. I didn't train you for months just so you could fucking fail," he threatened and Izuku shrunk back in his seat.
After some awkward silence where the only noise coming from the boys were the chewing of unhealthy (but delicious) food and the occasional sip of a (equally unhealthy) drink, Izuku asked, "D-do you think you passed?"
He immediately regretted it when he noticed a blonde eyebrow twitch, and he had to fight against his instincts to shield his face from any incoming explosions. Kacchan hadn't used his quirk on him for a long time (aside from training), but he would never forget the feeling of fiery explosions on raw, freckled skin and the lingering pain that would last for days afterward.
"Of course I did. Who the hell do you think I am, Deku? With my quirk, there's no way I won't be accepted," the explosive blonde proclaimed boldly and began to sip his drink aggressively. Izuku didn't dare ask any more questions. At least Kacchan didn't kick his legs again.
They sat like that, eating their food silently. Or slightly noisy in Kacchan's case, as he seemed determined to eat his cheeseburger in the most threatening manner possible. Leave it to Kacchan to make the most mundane of tasks look like the precursor to murder, Izuku thought with a mixture of slight fear and wonder.
Kacchan eventually finished decimating his burger and was chewing at the last bite thoughtfully before swallowing. "We're gonna get into U.A.," he stated, locking eyes with Izuku, fierce red meeting bright green. He radiated confidence, a trait Izuku had always admired about the boy. It was enough that just staring into those calm eyes filled with such certainty, certain that they would pass, certain that they would become heroes, that it overflowed and washed over Izuku's own frazzled nerves to fill him with newfound determination. "Anyone that gets in the way will get an ass kicking so hard it sends them into spatial orbit."
"...even if they were All Might?"
"Especially if they are All Might. I'm gonna have to kick his ass before becoming number one anyways."
And despite Izuku's mind telling him he should feel offended on behalf of his hero and idol after Kacchan's bold declaration, he could only smile.
"Yeah," he said. "Guess you're right."
Izuku pranced around his room giddy and nervous, waiting for the person on the other side of the line to pick up his phone call. When he finally heard the telltale beep of a phone being answered he cried out, "Kacchan!"
"Don't yell in my fucking ear," Kacchan grumbled from the other line. "The fuck do you want, Deku?"
Izuku couldn't hold it in any longer as a laugh bubbled up and forced it's way out his throat. "I did it! I passed!"
Kacchan was silent for a moment, when finally—
"Yeah. I fucking told you."
AN: Man, this chapter was hard to write. I don't even know why. I just didn't really feel it when I was writing, you know? (Except for Ochako VS the robot of death and doom, that was fun.) But when I re-read what I wrote it wasn't as bad as I thought it was. I gotta say though, it's pretty fun writing about Izuku using his quirk from another persons perspective. :)
Oh yeah, and if you noticed, I didn't really use honorifics aside from one instance. I think I'm only gonna use honorifics when they are talking to each other, and not in their thoughts... or something like that.
Also, I just had a great idea for this fic earlier today. I won't spoil it, but I'm pretty excited, even if it won't happen for a long time... oh well. Now I have something to look forward to. I think you guys will like it. ;)
Welp. Next chapter might be slightly boring. I dunno. I guess that depends on what you think is interesting? But it's necessary. Probably gonna be a bit shorter too.